‘Heated Rivalry’ Author Confirms Popular Fan Theory About Shane

Though it isn’t explicitly stated in the books, a portion of the Heated Rivalry fandom has long wondered if Shane (Hudson Williams) is neurodivergent, sharing the theory online. Now that his love story with Ilya (Connor Storrie) has made its way to TV, we have our answer.

Straight from the source herself, author Rachel Reid has confirmed that Shane is autistic. When Instagram user @anni.malter shared a preview of her interview Reid, she wrote, “It’s canon that Shane is autistic. Rachel told me that both the show’s creator [Jacob Tierney] and actor [Hudson Williams] recognized this immediately.”